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Cindy Koebele
President, TitleSmart, Inc.
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Tell us about your business journey and experience:
I started TitleSmart with my sister Angela Shackle in 2007 during the collapse of the housing bubble with a $30,000 loan from my family.
Although many people saw it as a risky time, I saw an opportunity to provide a level of service that I wasn't seeing at the companies I worked for.
TitleSmart has been profitable since 2008...
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Karen L. Tarrant
Partner, Tarrant & Liska, PLLC
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When and why did you join NAWBO-MN?
In 1977 I was a young attorney who had recently moved to the Twin Cities from Chicago. I was with a medium sized St. Paul firm and was the only woman attorney. When one of my firm's clients mentioned that there was a group of women who were forming Minnesota chapter for an organization called National Association of Women Business Owners, I thought, "I have to be part of that." I went to a meeting and have been a member ever since.
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Don't Wait! Register with our Non-Member Coupon Code Today!
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Unravel the Health Insurance Mystery
Date: Thursday, September 29th, 2016
Time: 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
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Join During our Fall Membership Drive!
Save on Membership now through Oct 31st
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Why become a member of NAWBO?
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National and Local Membership
When you join NAWBO, your business elevates to a local and national platform in an already established community of women entrepreneurs. Nationally, NAWBO supports over 5,000 members in 60 chapters across the country.
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Member-Only Benefits
NAWBO members enjoy exclusive access to events, benefits, and resources designed to help manage their own businesses. Our network of partners and sponsors offer discounts that deliver bottom line savings to our members while building a network critical to business success. |
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Partnerships and Alliance
A membership provides entrepreneurs the ability to network and seek resources to navigate business growth. NAWBO attracts corporations and affiliate partners that offer rich resources and expertise that can help propel women business owners to the next level of success.
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Luncheon and Business Expo
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Midpointe Event Center
Save the date for October 26th to join NAWBO-MN in celebrating the best of the best NAWBO women business owners in Minnesota!
Looking for ways for your company to participate in this event? Market your business to local business women by investing in an exhibit booth! Pricing for exhibiting is as follows:
NAWBO Members: 375.00
Non Members: 500.00
Want to stand out even more? Become a sponsor and come on stage to announce one of our winners! All Exhibitors and Sponsors may participate in our popular swag bag giveaway provided to everyone who attends.
No Achieve! Awards celebration would be complete without it (no flyers, only fun stuff)!
Please contact Executive Director, Buffie Blesi at
[email protected]
for information on exhibiting and participating in the swag bag.
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Cindy Koebele
President, TitleSmart, Inc.
TitleSmart, Inc. is a full-service title insurance company dedicated to providing clients with exceptional title, escrow, and real estate closing solutions. A certified Women's Business Enterprise, TitleSmart was named one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America in 2014, 2015, and 2016 and one of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's Best Places to Work in 2015.
Tell us about your business journey/experience. Is there a surprising tidbit we can share about you or your history?
I started TitleSmart with my sister Angela Shackle in 2007 during the collapse of the housing bubble with a $30,000 loan from my family. Although many people saw it as a risky time, I saw an opportunity to provide a level of service that I wasn't seeing at the companies I worked for.
TitleSmart has been profitable since 2008. We currently have 56 employees in seven locations and have been on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America for the past three years. We are on track to hit $10-12 million in revenue in 2016.
Why did you decide to own your own business?
I believe that closing on your house should be a positive and fun experience and I wanted to bring that experience to life for my customers. I also wanted to start a company where employees are treated well and have the opportunity to build the career they want as part of a great team.
Tell us a little about the awards you or your business has received - or the business accomplishments that make you proudest.
TitleSmart has been on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America for the past three years. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, LinkedIn, and many other well-known brands gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000, so it's a pretty exciting honor to be included on that list. TitleSmart has won several other local business awards including being named a Small Business Success Story Finalist in 2014 by Twin Cities Business Magazine, a Fast 50 Honoree by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in 2014 and 2016, and one of the Business Journal's Best Places to Work in 2015.
In 2015, I was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Upper Midwest in the Insurance Services category. I won the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Women in Business Award in 2015 and was recently named the winner of the 2016 American Business Awards Silver Stevie Award for Executive of the Year - Insurance and Financial Services. I am also extremely passionate about my role as Vice President of the Executive Committee on the board of directors for Spare Key, a nonprofit that provides housing grants to parents with a seriously ill or critically injured child.
Family? Hobbies? Any work-life balance tips?
I have two sons and two step daughters who I love spending time with. I also enjoy traveling with my husband, Jon. I am the author of a series of children's books about the adventures of my family's beagle dog (www.puppabooks.com). I also recently launched a website that offers customer service tips and inspiration to business owners (cindykoebele.com). A recent hobby/project that I worked on was producing a Tribute Album (CD) of my brother's (who passed away from illness earlier this year), music to honor his memory.
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Karen Tarrant
Partner, Tarrant & Liska, PLLC
At Tarrant & Liska, PLLC
my partner Melanie Liska and I are committed to helping you solve your legal problems. The areas that we practice in are business law, real estate, estate planning, wills and trusts, probates, guardianships, conservatorships and trust administration. We are creative problem solvers with decades of practice, a breadth of legal experience and a commitment to personal attention and service.
Tell us about your business journey/experience. Is there a surprising tidbit we can share about you or your history?
Looking back on my life, I realize that I am entrepreneurial. That is not something I knew about myself in law school. NAWBO helped me realize the truth about myself.
I like to solve problems, do something well and have an opportunity to be creative. Being an attorney is a good profession for those traits. However, to rise to the most prestigious positions in my industry, in addition to intelligence and awesome legal skills, you have to be willing to work insane hours and be extremely focused on advancing yourself professionally. I am a hard worker but I only admit to work alcoholic tendencies. I do not do professional advancement well and am often distracted by things I care about outside the profession. NAWBO has helped me learn to value these traits.
Being on my own or with one or two partners has its challenges but I think it was the right career path for me. It also allowed me to start an on-site day care operation at my office when my children were little that definitely served me and my children well. Nothing like that would have happened if I had stayed in a traditional firm when my children were little.
I am proud of the younger women who I see in my profession breaking glass ceilings and thriving. I am glad that they are able to do it within the normal professional structures in a way that I was not able to. This will give them more power and also change the profession for the good.
Why did you decide to own your own business?
In 1982 I was tearing myself apart. I was a new mother. I had an aging mother 120 miles away that I was trying to assist. I was in a difficult marriage. I was a junior partner in a growing medium sized firm in St. Paul. One snowy day in March, as I was preparing for a trial, I called home to check with my Hmong nanny on how my son was doing. During the phone call there was a crash and I could hear my son screaming. I asked the nanny if my son was ok and she said "No," in broken English. I threw some papers in my brief case, grabbed a cab and fishtailed home in the storm. We ended up in a hand specialist clinic sewing the tip of my son's finger back on.
It was then that I realized that if I did not make a change in my life, I was going to end up in a hospital of some description or worse. Staying with the firm was important to me but last on the list of priorities. So, I decided to "hang out my shingle." I traded money and prestige for time and control.
When and why did you join NAWBO-MN?
In 1977 I was a young attorney who had recently moved to the Twin Cities from Chicago. I was with a medium sized St. Paul firm and was the only woman attorney. I had also been the only women attorney at the firm I had been with in Chicago and of my class of a little over 100 students at the University of Chicago I was one of 14-17 female students. So, when one of my firm's clients mentioned that there was a group of women who were forming Minnesota chapter for an organization called National Association of Women Business Owners, I thought, "I have to be part of that." I went to a meeting and have been a member ever since. The way I describe it is, It is one thing to tell yourself that you are the wave of the future. It is another thing to walk into the room and see the wave.
NAWBO-MN has provided me with exposure to intelligent, competent, entrepreneurial professionals who have expertise in all the kinds of practical experience necessary to run a small business. Law school does not teach you how to find clients, advertise, network, manage staff, find an IT vendor. It has also been wonderful to have a safe, non-competitive place to share the anxieties and joys of being an entrepreneur. That the others are women, facing similar challenges and with similar socialization is of course very important. If there comes a time when NAWBO is not needed by women, that will be good. But until then, I recommend NAWBO without reservation.
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